The Nigeria navy executive Agusta 109E helicopter, which crashed
Saturday, killing Kaduna State Governor Patrick Yakowa, former NSA
Andrew Owoye Azazi and four others, had engine failure, naval sources
have said.
The pilot of the helicopter, according to an online report,
communicated with the control tower in Port Harcourt to report the
problem before it crashed to the ground and caught fire. The chopper
belonged to the Nigeria navy, but it had been placed at the exclusive
service of the president in the Niger Delta region, according to
reports.
The navy has had three Agusta 109E helicopters. In 2007, one of them
crashed due to bad weather as it approached the Owerri airport in the
night, accompanying INEC election materials. Four persons died in the
crash.
The other two, NN07 and NN08, which actively worked the Bayelsa airspace yesterday, were commissioned in 2009.
Sources said that the choppers had been placed almost exclusively at
the service of President Goodluck Jonathan and his aides, which is the
reason why they were deployed to carry VIPs to and from the Port
Harcourt International Airport for a private burial event of
presidential aide Oronto Douglas.
Prior to the deadly flight, the naval choppers also carried VIPs to
the funeral of President Jonathan’s brother, Meni, less than two weeks
ago the online report also suggested.
At the time of the crash, the helicopter had reportedly done 10
shuttle trips between Port Harcourt and the burial place of Mr.
Douglas’s father in Okoroba. Landing and taking off from the soccer
field of a local school in the town.
The flight was reportedly the last one, but the engine failed some ten minutes after takeoff, leading to the fatal crash.
President Jonathan, who had earlier attended an overnight “Holy Ghost
Congress” at the Redeemed Church of God on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway,
then issued a terse statement which revealed the names of crash victims
with a promise that a probe of the crash will be conducted.
Sahara Reporters
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